Lessons from the Elders
Florance Lapu Apu explains the lessons that she has learned from talking to the village elders in the Bario dialect of Kelabit. The recording was made in Bario on 9th November 2017.
la' ulud-ulud tuih
I'd like a say a bit
mala kapeh-kapeh teh lun merar kamih ngilad
about what our elders used to say
muli' uih marih Bario
I came back to Bario
neh nuih pelaba doo' pian tudo ngedeh iring tetel ih
I really liked to sit with them near the fire
ninger-ninger ulud dedih
listening to their conversations
mula' nuk belaan kedideh ngilad
they had a lot to say
renga' narih itun-itun ngedeh
when I invited them
mey mirup kopi pu'un tetel ih, iring tetel
to drink some coffee in front of the hearth
edteh tesineh kuh
I had one aunt
mileh meto' kedieh malem meto' lah
she was really very clever
tak ieh mala...
when she said...
enun teh keneh midteh?
what was it she said once?
"ngudeh muyuh anak nuk kinih mawer tu'uh iat," keneh
"why are you young people so impatient nowadays?" she said
"ayen-ayen narih, pu' ayam"
"take things slowly, dear"
"tak iko, renga' ni'er labo keter ih"
"If you look at the squirrel"
"kidih kendita' neh uput," keneh
"the higher it jumps," she said
"kineh kenmaan tutu' neh," keneh
"the harder it falls," she said
nih neh keduih ngelinuh karuh sineh mudtih lah
so I thought about what she said afterwards
ngudeh Sina' doo' ileh mala kineh-kineh?
how did Aunty know how to say things like that?
ngudeh kedieh doo' keli' mala kayu' karuh ideh Orang Putih
how did she know how to say things like proverbs in English?
look before you leap
look before you leap
or the higher you go the harder you fall
or the higher you go the harder you fall
tak uih ngelinuh Sina' kedieh
If I think of my Aunty
am tebey' ieh mileh karuh Orang Putih
she doesn't speak English
ngudeh tieh doo' keli' mala sineh, kekuh keyh
why is she able to say that then?, I wonder
mala labo keter teh kedieh
she talked about the squirrel
"kidih kendita' labo keter ih uput"
"the higher the squirrel jumps"
"kineh kenmaan tutu' neh," keneh
"the harder he falls," she said
kadi' nuih mala
so I asked her
"ngudeh ko mala kineh Sina'?" kekuh ngeneh
"why did you say that, Aunty?"
neh nieh mala
then she said
"neh men pu' ayam, muyuh nuk madi' nih"
"as for you young children"
"tak beto' muyuh..."
"if you..."
am keli' ken na'am ieh setuju
I don't know if she didn't agree
na'am ieh doo' pian ngen narih mey sekolah dita'-dita' lah
or wasn't happy about us going to university
kadi' suk binala nedih
but what she said was
"maya' Tuhan peh tauh," keneh
"we should follow God," she said
"maya' Tuhan peh tauh"
"we follow God"
"ayen-ayen teh tauh"
"we must be careful"
"ian saget-saget keneh"
"and not rush ahead"
"dita'-dita' muyuh na'an"
"if you go too high"
tutu' muyuh na'an
"and then you fall"
"at tu'uh nieh, pu' ayam," keneh mala kineh
"it will really hurt," she said
oh, neh neh dieh linuh ih lah
that was what she thought
neh edteh keli' kuh ngen Sina' sineh neh
that's one thing I learned from that Aunty
mula' teh ulud deh beken-beken ngi tetel ih
and there were lots of other conversations by the fireplace
neh suk inan kedideh mala-mala sekunuh
that's where they used to tell stories
nuk tu-tu'uh ih tidih meto' tebey'
and they were true ones actually
adi' mula' nuk binala deh beken
they said so many different things
nuk keteng tu'en keduih ngelinuh medting edto kinih
that I still think about until this day
adi' doo' renga' narih inan masa ruyung lun merur
it's good when you have time to sit with the elders
inan kereb ruyung lun merar
when you have time with the elders
kereb teh narih belajar
you can learn from them
keli' enun dideh linuh ih lem dalem-dalem
and know what's in their deepest thoughts
kidih keneh midteh beruh
this is what she said another time
ken edteh Aunty beken tun teh sinih
this was a different Aunty of mine
tesineh menaken kuh beken
a different Aunty
"kamih nih ngilad, pu' ayam," keneh, "doo' paad kamih"
"in the past, my dear," she said, "we were united"
"tak kamih mey demamu',"
"if we went weeding,"
"mey ngabi teh kamih"
"we all went together"
"pebaya' teh kamih, baya' teh kamih"
"we walked together, we worked together"
baya' suk libal-libal ih
baya' means taking it in turns
mey ngen tesineh uih deh edto kinih
they go to my mother today
mey ngen edteh Aunty beken deh edto riak
they go to another aunt tomorrow
baya' nideh mey demamu'
they work together when weeding
mey kayu' mey ranih
or when harvesting
kayu' mey nu'uh padey dedih
or processing their paddy
neh nuk tu'en lun merar ih
that's what the elders did
kinih keneh ngekuh
this is what she said to me
"tak uih ni'er muyuh anak nuk kinih, pu' ayam," keneh
"if I look at you young people, my dear," she said
"taru' ieh teh sengi kedieh"
"this one does his own thing"
"taru' ieh teh sengi kedieh"
"and this one does his own thing"
am tebuut teh muyuh la' baya'-baya',"
"you don't work together at all"
"ngudeh muyuh kineh?" keneh
"why are you like that?" she said
kadi' nuih mala ngeneh
so I said to her
"ooh nganeh tidih terun Sina'," kekuh ngeneh
"oh it's probably because of this," I said
"pelaba men paki' kamih"
"we live apart from each other"
"paki' kamih nih teruh"
"and because we're separated"
"kadi' neh kamih na'am kayu' baya' muyuh ngilad ih"
"maybe that's why we don't do communal work in the same way as you"
kekuh ngeneh keyh
I said to her
kadi' nieh mala, "kineh tu'uh peh, pu' ayam"
so she said, "even so, my dear"
"taru'-taru' teh muyuh petu'uh lem abi-abi nuk tu'en muyuh ih"
"try to look after each other in all that you do"
"pebaya' narih, doo' ruyud narih, doo' rurum narih"
"go together, keep each other company, associate with one another"
pengeh ineh beruh, neh meto' kayu' motto or whatever
and after that, that became like the motto
nuk midih sineh Rurum Kelabit Sarawak (RKS) ih beruh
and after that, that became like the motto of The Kelabit Association (RKS)
kadi' nuih mala doo' renga' narih tudo ruyung lun merar ih
so that's why I think it's good to sit with the elders
mula' nuk belaan deh
they have a lot to say
paad sineh beto'
and that's the end for now